Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
will be colonization of high altitudes by subalpine species (Stanisci
et al.,
2005;
Kazakis
et al.,
2007) or what Gottfried
et al.
(2012) termed the 'thermophilization'
of mountain plant communities.
10.2.2 Socioeconomic challenges
Globally it is estimated that 13.3% of mountain land area is cultivated, while 50% is
under some form of land use (Korner and Ohsawa, 2005). The Mediterranean Basin
has historically been exploited with increasing intensity over time. Agriculture in
particular has played a major role in shaping Mediterranean landscapes for the last
7000 years (Vogiatzakis
et al.,
2006). This remains a major pressure, particularly
in the south, where landscape degradation is mainly associated with population in-
crease and the resulting human needs (Moore
et al.,
1998). In the northern part of
the Basin, land use has been driven by EU policies and directives, the most con-
troversial perhaps of all being the Common Agricultural Policy, a major driver of
landscape change in lowlands and uplands alike. At the same time new forms of
land use (e.g. recreation, biodiversity protection, energy production, etc.) compete
with traditional ones leading to conflicts.
By default perhaps, human land use in mountain areas promotes homogeneity
and therefore reduces the inherent resilience of these systems. However, human
activities in some Mediterranean mountains have resulted in land cover diversity
(Nogues-Bravo, 2006). Price and Thompson (1997) argued that the dynamics of
ecological and sociocultural systems in mountains are non-linear. In the mountains
of the northern Mediterranean extensification of land use takes place, whereas in the
south the trend is reversed, with more intense agricultural activity. There are also
areas where little or no changes have been recorded in the last 50 years (Di Pasquale
et al.,
2004; Hill
et al.,
2004) partly because there have been limited social changes
in these areas.
Mountain agriculture is practised on marginal lands, and where instruments have
been formalized, as in the north of the Basin, agricultural activities have been sup-
ported. The abandonment of these activities has been detrimental to the equilibrium
of these vulnerable systems, particularly in the north of the Basin, as demonstrated
by Papanastasis in Chapter 8. Desertification is already an issue in the Mediter-
ranean, therefore in areas where rainfall will diminish, further marginalization is
expected (Geeson
et al.,
2002).
Tourism in the Mediterranean has been one of the most important factors in the
region's socioeconomic development in the last 50 years, resulting in broader so-
cioeconomic and cultural changes. Tourism has been adopted universally as a tool
for development, and in the case of the Mediterranean mountains has the potential
to revive mountain economies. Worldwide, the mountain landscape itself is a main
tourist attraction, which has resulted in a steady income to mountain communities
but at the same time put more pressure on resources and cultural identities. In ad-
dition to tourists, local populations are now returning to the mountains, following
